Friday, April 29, 2011

So . . . you’re
walking south on Leavitt in Wicker Park, admiring lovely late
nineteenth-century homes of sandstone, maybe thinking about the first- or
second-generation Germans who found fortune in the fastest growing city in the
world when you make a left onto Pierce, walk a dozen paces or so and come upon
2138 West Pierce, a home unlike anything you have ever seen before.

2138 West Pierce (JWB, 2011)

You have to see it
to believe it . . . and you won’t regret making the trip.

The firm of Fromann
and Jebsen designed the house for Hans D. Runge, and it was finished in
1884. Emil Henry Fromann and Ernst
Jebsen designed homes all over the city in a variety of styles (See “The Case
of the Mysterious Wine Merchant” in the April 4, 2011 Connecting the Windy
City blog). The firm’s claim to fame is the
Humboldt Park Refectory, finished in 1895. If you’re up on Belmont and Southport, Schuba’s is another
Fromann and Jebsen design, one of the 27 “tied-houses” that the firm designed
for Edward Uihlein and the Schlitz Brewing Company.

Mr. Runge was the
treasurer of a large wood milling firm, and his choice of architectural style
featured over-the-top wood embellishment -- from the massive turned table leg
supports of the veranda roof to the finely wrought Masonic symbolism beneath
the eaves.

Eastlake detail in porch support (JWB, 2011)

The house is a
classic example of the Eastlake style of design, a name that comes from an
Englishman, Charles Eastlake, whose 1872 Hints on Household Taste in
Furniture, Upholstery and Other Details attracted a wide following.

Eastlake designs
feature porch posts, railings and balustrades that appear massive. They were turned on a lathe, giving
them the shape of heavy legged furniture popular during the latter part of the
nineteenth century.

Large brackets are
placed at every corner. Beneath
the roof of the house on Pierce you see such brackets beneath the overhanging
roof. Looking closely the bracket
on the left contains the Masonic pyramidal symbol we are accustomed to seeing
on the back of the one-dollar bill.
On the right are the square and compass most commonly associated with
Freemasonry.

Note Masonic symbolism in left and right brackets (JWB, 2011)

In the late
Victorian period the Eastlake style saw a much greater use of color. 2138 West doesn’t show this to a great
extent, only in the rear supporting posts beneath the roof on the upstairs
deck, a deck that features the row of spindles common to this architectural
style. You can see these supports in the photo to the left.

But the real story
of the house is the story of the second owner—Samuel F. Smulski, who served as
a city alderman for two terms, State Treasurer and Chairman of the West Park
Board. He practiced law in the
firm of David, Smulski & McGaffey and was the President of the Pulaski
Lumber Company. In 1906 Smulski founded the Northwestern Trust and Savings Bank
and also served on the Board of Directors for eight other banks in the city.

As important as his
endeavors in Chicago financial affairs were, his efforts on behalf of Poland
won him international acclaim. He
served as Chairman of the National Polish Committee during World War I, a
committee of which the great Polish composer Ignacy Paderewski was also a
member. This began a friendship
that lasted the rest of Smulski’s lifetime.

After the war, as
Poland struggled to survive as an independent state, Smulski helped to negotiate
loans from the United State to stabilize Poland’s economy. During this crucial time Paderewski was
Poland’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, so it’s easy to assume
that the two men further strengthened their friendship during the trials of
1919.

There are two myths
concerning Smulski and the house on Pierce, one of which I can disprove, the
other of which must remain an interesting tale without verification.

The first story
involves Smulski’s suicide, which occurred on March 18, 1928. There are two parts to the story as it
is most commonly told. First, is
that the banker took his life as a result of the stock market collapse. Clearly, this is false since that event
took place nearly 20 months later.

The second part of
the story has it that Smulski took his life inside the house on Pierce
Street. But The Chicago Tribune on March 19, 1928 reported (beneath the
front page banner headline “Smulski Ends Life”) that “. . . Mr. Smulski entered
a bathroom on the sixteenth floor of the Seneca hotel and shot himself.”

In any event, the
coroner concluded that Smulski, who had suffered through three operations in
the previous year for sigmoiditis, had taken his life “in temporary insanity
induced by despondency over ill health.”
This contradicts the statement of Smulski’s doctor who had examined him
the week before and found “He was in splendid condition . . . The sigmoiditis
was a long and protracted affair, but he had practically recovered from it . .
.” [Chicago Tribune,
March 19, 1928]

Front Entrance to 2138 W. Pierce (JWB, 2011)

The other myth
surrounding the house on Pierce Street is that the Polish composer, piano
virtuoso and patriot Ignacy Paderewski gave a concert on the veranda of the
home. No account of such an event
is given in the newspapers of the time.

Paderewski gave
concerts at Chicago’s Symphony Hall in 1928 in the dead of winter. It’s unlikely he would have played
piano on a front porch during that trip.
He also played a concert at Symphony Hall on April 1, 1932. Again, not the warmest weather in the
world . . . and his friend, John Smulski, would have been dead for over four
years.

Still, there is
nothing I’ve found to prove that he DIDN’T entertain a crowd on the Smulski
porch, either. Certainly, his
friendship with Mr. Smulski may very well have brought him to the Pierce Street
home. And the fact that Smulski
was married to Harriet Mikitynski, an accomplished operatic singer in her own
right, might have us envision informal gatherings around the piano in the
Smulski parlor.

In any event, when
he died the President of the United States sent a letter of condolence to Mrs.
Smulski and United States Vice-President Dawes said, “He was a man of
irreproachable character and of a great public spirit. In all positions of public trust, of
which he occupied many, his career was one of the strictest honesty and high
usefulness.”

2 comments:

If this is the Gillian I knew years ago . . . you are living in a rocking part of the city. Stroll through those neighborhoods, and history comes alive! If it's you, Gillian, I can't tell you how great it is to hear from you!